The Protector
by POTOF
Summary: Alexandra thinks that she finally understands the reason for her existence. Then, a series of events leaves her uncertain as to whom she should trust. Follow the story through her own eyes as she begins her perilous journey...as a protector. Has some Kay
1. Introduction

At first, I was safe. I was safe because I knew nothing of the world and its horrors. Then, as my life progressed, a belief slowly formed in my head. This belief was soon proven to be a fact by multiple events beyond my or anyone else's control. The fact, which I learned at a relatively young age, is that everyone has a curse. It is true! You do not believe me? Listen to my story and you shall soon see the truth for what it is. My view on curses is perhaps much different than most. I believe that, although a person is usually stuck with a curse for life, they have a certain amount of control over it. There are several options as to how to handle a curse. The first is to try and ignore it, or simply convince yourself that it does not exist. This is, of course, pure nonsense. The curse is there whether you acknowledge it or not. Another option is to simply try to cope with whatever you are dealing with. If you are strong, then this might partially work. Coping involves making sacrifices that one usually does not want to make, therefore is usually non-profitable. Yet another option is to let the curse take hold of your life and destroy everything you love, eventually driving you to an early grave due to hatred, grief, bitterness, and despair. And then there is the hardest course to take. On order to take control of a cursed life, one must use the curse to his or her advantage in one way or another. To do so defeats the purpose of the curse, and therefore turns the curse into a strange kind of gift. I can see that you are both confused and doubtful. If my story does not convince you of this truth, then I doubt that anything will.


	2. Chapter 1

I sat holding my screaming friend's hand. As she pushed and groaned, my ears were filled with the echoes of my own screams. The scene in front of me faded away and all I saw was his face……The blond curly hair, the tanned skin, and the deep brown eyes that caused people to stare at us in confusion. Siblings? How was it possible for two people so closely related to look so different? He was the big, strong one, and I was the slender, quick one. My skin is pale and my hair midnight black. My brother was tall, but I never grew to be much more than five-foot-four. Standing next to my muscular brother, my small slight frame appeared even more fragile than it was. The only way that you could tell that we were related at all was that we shared the same last name, Barret. He and I hardly left one another's side. Our parents were both dead, so we were all each other had. We did almost everything together, but the activity that we most enjoyed was horseback riding. At first he would take me riding on his own snow-white horse, teaching me what to do and how to ride safely. Then, when I was older, he got me a nearly identical horse of my own. We rode together almost every day, racing one another and playing games in the meadow near our house.

Tristan was seven years older than me, but he still acted younger than his age. I will never forget how he was on my thirteenth birthday. Money was tight and Tristan had been working hard for us to have somewhat of a steady income. He stayed up nights, looking for a second job, but with no success. He was so tired that day, but he was happy. Tristan was happy because I was happy. Then they came, and my world soon changed forever. The men knocked on the door and my brother answered. They came in calmly and Tristan told me to go into the other room, saying that he would come and get me when the men were gone. I was curious as to why he would have me leave because I had never been forced to do so before, but I did as I was told. A minute later I heard a crash and indistinct yelling, followed by a single gunshot. I rushed into the room to find my brother dead on the floor. A man grabbed me from behind and I was quickly shoved into a carriage.

A crack of the whip and I was speeding away from the only home that I'd ever known. I struggled to get free of the man's harsh grip, but he only held tighter. In a panic, I bit him as hard as I could and he kicked me away. The latch was loose on the door, and I went flying from the carriage at a high rate of speed. Time stood still as I crashed onto the side of the road and went rolling over the edge. I fell straight down until I landed on some stone steps. Every bone in my body seemed to crack and break as I bounced violently downward. I shifted my body weight slightly, hoping to find something to grab onto. The bouncing ceased and I was falling again, this time straight down. I hit the ground and blood sprayed from my body like a fountain of red wine. My vision failed and I could only feel the pain of my untimely death speeding toward me. I sensed the presence of another being and begged them for death. I felt a pain that was like knives being driven into my neck. The pain was followed by a strange sensation, almost like a kiss. Then came the agony. My veins were burning as if fire was raging through them. It was too much…my brain shut down and I remembered no more.

As I snapped back into the present, I was shocked at the memory of the pain. Never before had I remembered so much. Before that moment in time, my memory cut out after I was thrown from the carriage and resumed when I woke up alone in a cold, dark alley. That was eighty-nine years ago. My life seemed fairly normal for a while, until I turned twenty-two. I didn't notice it for the longest time, but I was no longer aging. It seemed impossible, yet there was no denying the truth. Something strange had happened to me those many years ago. The lack of screaming jerked me from my memories. I looked over and saw Madeleine breathing heavily. It was over. The midwife had said that it was a son, but was now pale and shaking. I was rushed from the room and told to stay away until sent for. It was at least an hour before I heard the scream. I rushed from the room, hearing footsteps on the stairs as I went. Following the hurried footsteps down the stairs, I saw Madeleine sitting in her chair knitting. I stepped closer and she looked up.

"Where is he?" I asked confusedly, "Where is your son?"

"I have no son." she said solemnly, "I have birthed a monster."

I looked from her to the stairs and then began to walk toward the baby's room. Once there, I slowly crept toward the crib, wondering what made my friend so cold toward her newborn babe. I saw. And I screamed. There was no speed fast enough on this earth that could get me out of that room fast enough. I sat on the sofa, shaking in horror at the image imprinted on my eyelids. I saw the horrendous thing every time I blinked.

"I'm making a mask to hide it."

The sound of Madeleine's sweet voice made me jump.

"Oh?" I asked hysterically, "And what do you plan to do about the rest of its features; the blood-red eyes, the skeletal frame? What about the fact that the deformity stretches all the way to the base of its skull?"

She swallowed hard.

"There's nothing I can do about that for now except keep people away from the hideous thing. I can't make its skin feel warm either…"

"The skin's not even warm?" I asked in disgust.

"No," she replied, "it feels like that of a corpse."

"Ugh." I said, making a face, "So the thing's body temperature matches the rest of its features."

Madeleine's eyes darted around, as if searching the room.

"The priest said that I could not leave it to die from neglect," she said in a whisper, "but perhaps I shall not need to go that far. It is very weak…it didn't even cry at birth. Perhaps it shall just silently pass in the night."

This thought cheered me and my body began to relax.

I couldn't tell her. Surely such knowledge would destroy her? I myself did not even know how such knowledge had planted itself in my brain; I just knew that it was true. The thing that Madeleine had given birth to…was a vampire.

"I suppose that you were forced to name it." I said tentatively.

"Yes," she said quietly, "I had it named Erik, after the priest. I could think of nothing else. Though I secretly think that Lucifer would have been a better match."

I shuddered and nodded. Looking out the window, I realized that it was extraordinarily late. Time to hit the streets…time to search for the meaning to my existence. I was halfway out the door when my scar began to tingle. It was not necessarily an unpleasant feeling, simply urgent. It was as if I was being called. I rubbed at it and began to depart once more. Calling over my shoulder to Madeleine that I would return in a few days, I hit the streets.

The hours passed by slowly, and my scar continued to tingle and itch. The next night, I returned to Madeleine, praying for her sake that the beast had died sometime in the night. Reason told me that I should stay away for a few days and avoid the dismal situation as much as possible. My heart told me that I had to go. Madeleine was, after all, the only friend that I had dared to make over the years. Knocking on the door, I was not at all surprised to see a very cautious Madeleine peering out from between the curtains prior to answering the door. She greeted me warmly, and led me quickly inside. I could tell that she was relived to see me, though why I dared not guess.

"Alexandra…I have a favor to ask of you." she said nervously.

I steeled myself and nodded for her to continue.

"Not a single sound has come from the room all night. I suspect the thing to be dead, but I cannot force myself to look…"

My eyes closed and I shivered in horror and apprehension. I knew without being told what duty it was that she wanted me to perform, and I also knew that I would not refuse. How could I? I had certain duties as a friend, and this happened to be one. Strange though it may sound, that was what I told myself. There was, of course, no such obligation on my part. Some secret and morbid curiosity pulled my eyes toward the stairway. I slowly made my way upstairs, to the room, and over to the crib. The terrifying sight that met my eyes repulsed me. It was alive! I rushed from the room and threw myself upon the couch, whimpering softly in fright. Madeleine took one look at me and burst into tears. She got up and went into the guest bedroom, throwing herself upon the bed in despair. I stayed awake up into the night, thinking. I hated to imagine how poor Madeleine felt, being stuck with a monster as the only reminder of her recently deceased husband. She could not be expected to bear such an enormous burden. She was much too delicate to survive the curse that had, for some reason, been placed upon her. I would not lose my only friend this way, nor could I bear the thought of watching her go mentally insane. Making my way slowly up the stairs, I focused on what I knew I had to do. I alone was the only one who could help Madeleine without fear or guilt. It was my responsibility to rid her of her curse… the curse named Erik.


	3. Chapter 2

Anonymous POV-

I stood on the rooftop, watching her with great care. This was the moment that I had been waiting for for years. From the moment that I had seen Alexandra, I knew that she was special. As she moved slowly toward the crib that held her destiny, my mind flashed back to our first and only meeting. Though it had been years, it seemed like the incident had happened yesterday. I had been on my usual rounds, hiding in the shadows to avoid unwanted attention. The moment I smelled her blood, my curiosity was aroused. Although I had fed the night before and was not thirsty, her sweet fragrance enticed me. I came upon her still and bleeding form and knelt down to put my ear closer to her chest. Somehow, her heart was still beating. I took her gently in my arms and bit her in the jugular, injecting my venom into her bloodstream without so much as a second thought. Once a sufficient amount had been inserted, I sealed the wound and stepped away. The girl's brow furrowed and she began to thrash about uncontrollably, unable to scream from the pain of conversion. I stayed with her until the conversion was complete, ensuring that no human mistook her for possessed and no vampire absconded with her to feed upon her unusually warm blood. The scent of this young one, as with all other protectors, would be repulsive to vampires, but only after she had been fully transformed. The ancient myth about people being transformed into vampires is, of course, complete nonsense. Vampires are born, not made.

What truly happens when a vampire bites into a human's flesh is much more complex than is believed. Whether or not a human is changed by the bite is determined by the amount of venom injected into the bloodstream. One clan of vampires will only tap a human, not completely draining them and therefore allowing them to live. The other clan will kill their prey, even if they do not need all of its blood. This clan is feared all throughout Paris by both humans and vampires. As to the injecting of venom, small amounts will do nothing. A slightly more substantial amount will allow the human to sense the presence of a vampire. If injected with a large amount, the human will become part of a completely different and very rare species, called protectors. Each protector has a special bond with the vampire who changed him or her. They immediately feel the urge to protect their other half, hence their name. This urge becomes stronger the longer the two are together, and the distress signal's range soon increases to having a radius of several miles. There are also instances in which the protector will find a vampire that he or she is destined to bond with. The forming bond is not forced, and once formed, both participants have the option of terminating it at any time. This is hardly ever done because it is said that the pain of the separation is nearly unbearable.

The continuous cycle of transformation and attachment once formed a great clan of vampires and protectors who kept the peace in Paris. The dark times were rapidly approaching as one of the protectors began to experiment with the magic that all of his kind was gifted with. He enslaved the vampire that was bonded to him and forced him to do his bidding. The trouble truly started when the protector, Damien, silently killed every other protector in Paris. He made their deaths quick and unsuspected, so that the vampires bonded to them would not be able to help. Once a protector was dead, Damien would then use dark magic to bind the vampire to him, then proceed to enslave him or her. The remaining vampires and protectors grew wise to his plan, and began to fight back. I remember that time…when the night was filled with the sounds of tearing flesh and heart wrenching screams as vampires and protectors watched their dearest friends being torn apart by Damien's forces. In the end, we surrendered, but it was too late. All of the protectors had been destroyed, and the small number of remaining vampires were forced into hiding, soon forgetting their true power. The few of us who remembered and wanted to fight went to one of the elders. The elders had refused to fight, saying that it was not their battle. Too long had their young protectors, who seemed to have evaded attack, pampered them. Deep within their underground fortress, the elders grew soft and fat on the blood of sedated humans. The most ancient of the elders sat in a throne-like chair, surrounded by servants.

The elders had come before eternal youth had been fully perfected in vampire DNA, and this one's white hair was long and ragged, appearing as though it had not been washed or groomed in centuries. Looking him over, I wondered if this fattened coward could even move on his own. How I wished that I could simply skip the formalities and customs, rushing into the next room and into the arms of the beautiful and powerful protector who somehow found it in her heart to love me. The elder stirred and I felt his milky white eyes resting sleepily upon me. His eye color suggested that it had been a long time since he had seen the Sun, the natural human camouflage in his genes dormant after lack of use, making him look every bit the vampire he was…or had been once. I knelt on the floor beside my two companions, showing respect for my superior. He nodded lazily to one of his servants and they all gathered around him, pushing and pulling until the elder was out of the chair. As he was basically carried from the room, the curtain that closed off the next room was pushed aside, and my beautiful fiancée stepped gracefully into the room. Her skin was paper-thin and snow white, her long hair straight and silver. She motioned for us to follow her into the room she had emerged from, and we entered just as she blew out the last candle. We sat in a circle, close to a gently glowing orb on the floor. The protector, Angelina, closed her eyes and touched both sides of the orb with her fingertips. This orb was brought out only in emergencies and could be used to see past, present, and future. The orb would not reveal its secrets to just anyone, and it alone would decide what Angelina would see within. After a few moments, the orb lit the room with a warm golden glow and Angelina began to speak slowly, describing what she saw and heard.

"The time shall be long," she said solemnly, "many lives will be lost before the time comes for a final uprising. There shall be a pair, bound together by destiny, which will confront Damien. Their power will be greater than any seen before, but danger follows this power. If Damien deceives the protector, then his or her arrival will be not our salvation, but our doom."

A protector? Was it possible? The only two protectors in all of Paris were Damian and Angelina. Yet she had said a pair, and Angelina's other half had been carried out of the other room moments before, unable to even support his own massive bulk. It was obvious that a new pair would have to be created, but surely Damian would destroy any attempts we made, as he had in the past? The orb went completely dark, darker than anyone had ever seen it. There was only one explanation for such an occurrence, and it was not a pleasant one. Damian had somehow learned of our plans of revolt, and had sent his forces to destroy us. We leapt up from our places on the ground and hurried toward the secret exit. As I was about to climb the ladder to the surface, Angelina caught me by the arm. I turned and kissed her passionately.

"Come with me," I pleaded, "let me hide you."

She smiled sadly and shook her head. We both knew that her absence would alert Damien, sending him on the rampage. Our mission had better chances this way. Then there was the elder, her other half. I knew without a doubt that she could never leave him. To do so would destroy her spirit, which I so dearly loved. Yet still she hesitated to stay. I knew that she had two children at home, fatherless. The oldest, a boy, was only ten. The other, a girl, was not even three years old yet. Sensing where my thoughts were, she spoke to me urgently.

"Watch over them, James." she said, "If anything happens to me, promise that you'll keep them safe."

Confused, I assured her that I would always lookout for her children. I climbed the ladder and grabbed the hand of one of my companions, hurrying to escape into the night. As the lid on the door slid silently shut, I heard Angelina scream.

Tears raced down my face as I remembered what I saw the next day. I had gone back to investigate, to see what they had done to Angelina. The first thing that I noticed as I entered the fortress was the strong smell of blood. I carefully looked around and discovered all of the elders to be dead. Then I smelled her blood. I quickly followed the scent to one of the side rooms and found her lying naked on a bed. I stepped closer and my boots squished in the blood soaked carpet. The fools had tried to bleed her to death. Didn't they know that protectors couldn't die that way? That was one of the good things about a protector. Their other half could feed off of them and the protector would never run out of blood. At this realization, a glimmer of hope sparked inside my chest.

"Angelina?" I called softly.

A strange glow lit up her entire body and I went closer. She was dead, but if the vampires had not killed her, what had? I suspect that I knew the answer, even then. The glow coming from inside her was the same glow as that of the orb. Somehow, she had swallowed it. To prevent Damien from seeing what would save us, she devoured the orb while it was darkened. As soon as Damien's forces had left, expecting Angelina to bleed to death, the glow had returned and its power had destroyed her.

I picked up one of the blankets from the floor with the intent to cover her. Before I placed the blanket over her still form, I saw that Angelina's hand was clasped around a tiny piece of paper. I gently pulled it from her cold stiff hand and read it. The note was in her handwriting, however messy it might have been from her pain and stress; I could tell that it was from her. The note was short, but still made me shudder in horror. She wanted me to take the orb. There was only one way to get it, and that was to cut her open. There was no knife handy, so I would be forced to use my teeth. How could I possibly defile her in such a way? The thought made my stomach churn. I noticed blood on the note, which was odd since there was no blood on her hands. I looked at them closer and saw that the source was her fingernails, which had blood and skin under them. I didn't have to ask myself why she would be clawing them in such an animalistic way. From the lack of clothing on her body, I deduced that she had been raped. Tears of rage raced down my cheeks and I stooped close to her still form. In moments, I had ripped open her stomach and retrieved the orb. I pushed her skin together and then sealed the hole with my tongue. Afterward, I covered her with the blanket and kissed her gently upon the lips. Someday, I would get revenge.

The orb had transformed into a necklace, a small teardrop shaped gem hanging from a golden chain. To eye it looked like nothing more than a pretty trinket. When held in the sun, the gem was filled with rainbows. Yes, the orb was perfectly disguised. Damien would never get the orb, and the prophecy would come true. By then, orb or no orb, it would be too late for his forces to change anything. The small remainder of the free vampire race was saved. The day that I had happened upon Alexandra, my heart had nearly stopped. After changing her, I put the necklace holding the orb around her neck and went to her house to investigate. Her brother had been shot, not bitten, but I still knew that it was Damien who had killed him. But why would he kill Angelina's children? Unless…I stopped and let the truth sink in. Somehow, without the orb, Damien had found out about the prophecy. He had sent his men to the house to take Alexandra, which he knew would require killing the brother, Tristan. In order to avoid wasting time snuffing the police investigation that would certainly follow an attack, he had told the men to kill Tristan by any means other than draining him. He had wanted Alexandra. She was part of the prophecy. Without knowing what I was doing, I had not only saved her life, but had also set the prophecy in motion. The fate of Paris' vampires rested upon a thirteen year old girl's shoulders, and she would never know until the time of the confrontation.

"Watch over them, James." the echo said.

I had failed to protect her son, but I would follow her daughter from the shadows for the rest of my life. This I swore to myself on that day, and I have followed her ever since. Alexandra stepped closer and closer to the crib holding the young vampire, and I saw her raise her hand high. It held a knife. Jumping to my feet, I cried out in horror. There was nothing I could do. Not even a vampire can travel fast enough to stop a falling blade from so far away. With one swift downward stroke of her arm, Alexandra could doom us all.


	4. Chapter 3

My arm was raised, ready for the plunge that would rid the world of the newborn monstrosity. I looked down, and all I could see were its eyes, filled with a strange sort of emotion that I could not at first place. It was pity. Pity! Somehow, the little thing knew the amount of grief and horror that its birth had caused, and understood what I was about to do and why. I suddenly got the feeling that it _wanted_ me to kill it. Lowering my hand to my side, I looked sideways at the little creature. Why was I doing this? Why should I deny this child, for certainly that's what it was, regardless of its appearance, the chance to live? Its chances of survival seemed slim enough without me interfering. I was about to step out of the room, when I heard a quiet noise, almost like…cooing. The little one had cooed! I raced back to the cradle and peered in. As soon as my face appeared above it, the child reached upward with his hands flexing. Entranced by the amount of effort that it must have caused the weakling to perform this small act of affection, I reached down and picked him up. He shivered in the cold air and I covered him with my shawl. He was no longer an 'it' in my eyes, and soon he became a strange treasure that only I had access to. Erik began to whimper uncomfortably and I guessed that he was hungry.

'Correction,' I thought to myself, 'thirsty.'

I took the knife that I had meant to be his demise and held it to my wrist. As I was about to pull it across and open a vein, my necklace began to glow. I dropped the knife and removed the necklace, placing the small point where the knife had been.

Pulling the dull point across my wrist, I noticed that blood was appearing. Something strange was happening, and I sensed that I was only partly in control. I lifted my cut wrist close to my lips and paused. But why? What was I supposed to do now? Looking down at the small bundle of life in my arms, I couldn't help but worry. What would happen to him once I left? He would die. There was no doubt in my mind that, regardless of whether or not Madeleine took care of him, Erik would simply slip away into eternity. The thought of never holding him in my arms again roused a primal fear in my heart, and I held him closer to my chest. I voluntarily raised my bleeding wrist close to my mouth and waited for something to happen. Whispered words in an ancient tongue echoed throughout my mind and tears fell from my eyes. Though I did not consciously understand the words, something deep within me knew every word. The only thing I knew was that Erik was in much more danger than I had thought, and only I could protect him. The words I was hearing began to issue from my mouth in a hurried whisper. There was much time and yet no time to loose. Once I had ceased to speak the words, I used my necklace to slice a small cut into Erik's skin. Without so much as a whimper, he stared up at me, waiting. I placed my cut against his and touched the necklace to where our skin met. A bright light shone from it, and I felt a strange rush of power flow through me. Lifting my arm, I put the cut against Erik's small mouth. He immediately began to suck the flowing blood. I sat there in silence, feeling his skin finally become warm and his cheeks lightly flush with a healthy red-pink hue.

Erik's eyes were a beautiful color of green, tinged slightly with crimson red, which I surmised would fade after a few more feedings. I gently put my necklace, which had since stopped glowing, back around my neck. The sky was beginning to brighten with the first signs of day, but I was far from being sleepy. Erik, on the other hand, yawned and closed his eyes. I started to slowly rock back and forth, singing him a sweet lullaby. Both of our cuts had sealed themselves a while back, zipping shut with flashes of gold. Since the first moment that we had been connected by the strange power of the crystal around my neck, Erik and I had been studying each other contently. It seemed as though we were perfectly in tune with one another, knowing each other's wants and needs, which at the moment were very few. As Erik drifted off to sleep, I realized that the only thing I wanted was him. I wanted to be with him forever, being the mother that Madeleine refused to be. I loved him, and that was more than anyone else but his creator in heaven could say at the moment.

Did I say that I wasn't sleepy? I did? Well, the apparent high that I had gotten from the strange interaction with Erik wore off very quickly. I woke up on a cot near Erik's crib, not remembering dragging the thing up there nor putting him to bed. It was near midday and I immediately wondered why Erik hadn't cried any during my nap. Worry overtook my senses and I leapt to my feet. He looked up at me with a strange gleam in his eyes. He was laughing at me through his eyes. Not mocking me, mind you, but simply expressing slight amusement in response to my stress. It was a slightly uncomfortable feeling, looking into the eyes of such a young being and seeing intelligence beyond his years. It was true that being a vampire contributed to his level of intellect, but I knew that Erik was smarter than even most vampires probably were. I couldn't know for sure whether this was true or not though, because I had not ever seen a vampire.

Something pushed at the corners of my mind and I cautiously let it surround me. A feeling of calm serenity flowed through me and I smiled. Even though Erik was far from being able to speak, the feelings that he sent me through our link was almost as good a way of communication.

"It's okay." he seemed to say, "We're both new to this. I won't criticize."

Testing the newfound link between our minds, I reached out to him. Please don't ask me what I mean by that, because I don't think that I can explain it to you. Only connected vampires and their protectors know this feeling. I guess it's a bit like moving a hose across space to touch and connect with another piece. As soon as I connected with him, a whole new world was opened to me. Empathy had a special meaning, as his every emotional and physical feeling registered in a part of my subconscious mind I'd never known to exist. A sound of pleasure came from Erik as the love in my heart for him grew even more.

A knock at the door jarred me from my blissful state and I went to see who it was. Upon opening the door, I was surprised to see Madeleine standing there with an anxious look on her face. So much had happened in that single night, I had almost forgotten about poor Madeleine!

"Is it…dead?" she whispered.

I stood silently for a moment, letting the question sink in. It was a painful reminder of why I had originally entered Erik's room, knife concealed in the folds of my dress. Shame and fear caused me to look away. What if I hadn't looked into his eyes? What if I had killed my poor Erik?

"No!"

I closed my eyes and put my hands over my mouth to keep my oncoming sobs held within. Madeleine put her arms around me and held me close.

"Don't cry my dear." she said, holding back her own sobs, "We'll find a way."

Her touch was like fire and I jerked out of her embrace, horrified. She reached out to me with a confused look on her face and I stepped in front of the crib protectively.

"What on earth?" she started.

"I won't let you hurt him!"

It sounded more like a whine than an actual threat, but Madeleine stepped backward all the same.

"What's happened to you?" she whispered in horror.

"I've come to my senses." I replied curtly, "I won't go around being afraid of an innocent newborn!"

"Newborn, yes." she said shakily, "But a newborn what? What type of being has red eyes?!?"

It was now more than ever that I needed to proceed with caution. If Madeleine learned that Erik was a vampire, she would inform the authorities and he would be destroyed.

"Oh, is that what's worrying you?" I said lightly, "It must have been either a trick of the light or a short-term effect of his breeched birth. Either way, his eyes are a very lovely emerald now, as you can see for yourself."

At this I pulled Erik from his crib and held him in such a way that his mother could see his face. She shuddered and whimpered quietly at the sight of his face, but nodded quickly in agreement.

"Yes, I see. Now please put it down! Or at least cover its horrid face!" she said in disgust, and threw the finished mask to me.

I stood there for a moment and looked from the piece of cloth to the tiny baby in my arms. No. I would not subject him to this. At least not while I could just as easily hide his face from her by situating him in the correct position. I put the mask on a nearby table and looked at Madeleine pointedly.

"I don't understand." she said, "What changed? What is it that you see in that creature?"

I looked down at Erik and he looked back up at me, waiting.

"I see purpose." I said softly, "When I look at him I finally feel like I'm worth something, that someone truly needs me. He fills me with a love like one that I have never known. I don't know why, but suddenly he is my everything. At this moment, I can't imagine existing without him. It's like if I leave him I will cease to breathe. I love him, Madeleine, more than I can ever express with words or even actions."

The look on her face at that moment was one of sheer incomprehension. It was basically a blank stare that said 'who are you and what have you done with my friend?'. I couldn't help but laugh, and Erik's feeling of…was that smugness?!?...made me feel even more bubbly. Poor Madeleine. She just stood there staring at me like I had lost my mind. Maybe I had, I wasn't sure. I hadn't felt true happiness in what seemed like forever.

"You stand there with that look on your face, my friend," I said with a smile, "but in truth this could prove quite beneficial to you."

"In what way?" she asked tiredly.

"You want nothing to do with your newborn son, and I want to be with him every moment possible." I replied, "So why not simply leave him in my care? Father Mansart would surely be appeased, as Erik would be well cared for. He need not know of your refusal to care for the child. Yes, I think it would be best for all if I were to stay here and care for him."

Excitement bounced around within me as I waited for Madeleine to respond. It seemed like forever before she nodded in consent.

"Very well." she said softly, "You shall have this room and I shall move to the guest room. You won't need that cot any more, just use the bed. I can't understand why you would volunteer yourself for this, but I would be a fool not to take your offer."

I smiled in triumph. Erik, not able to understand the words being spoken, was curious as to why I was so happy. I sent him my thoughts in basic feelings, conveying that I would be staying close to him. He made a contented sound and happiness flowed constantly between us.

Several hours later, as the sun began to set in the sky and Erik started to become sleepy again, Madeleine informed me that she would be leaving shortly to go shopping. I sounded a grunt of acknowledgement and returned my focus to rocking Erik to sleep. It was obvious that he was sleepy, but the stubborn little dear simply DID NOT want to go to sleep! I heard the door close and lock downstairs and I sighed. Madeleine always felt the need to lie about this. She thought I didn't know the truth about her trips to town, but I did. She went there to have an evening of laughter and excitement, to feel young again. Her constant wish to be young had a bad effect on her behavior, as she acted like an immature and spoiled child quite frequently.

Just as Erik finally drifted off to sleep, there was a knock at the door. After gently setting Erik into his crib, I softly crept down the stairs to see who it was. I opened the door to see a man standing there with a pleasant smile upon his face.

"Can I help you?" I asked politely.

"Yes," he said, "Can you tell me if the mistress of the house is home?"

"No…" I replied.

Before I had time to think about how stupid it had been for me to admit that, I heard a crash upstairs. I turned to go investigate, but the stranger grabbed me roughly by the arm.

"It's not polite to leave one's guests unattended." he said with a strange smile.

Anger took over and I jerked free, racing up the stairs much faster than I should have been able to run. Two more men stood in the room, and I immediately saw that they had come in through the window.

'The window?' I thought, 'There's nothing outside the window to climb up. How on earth did they manage to get up here?'

One of them stepped forward and I noticed the color of his eyes. Red. A vampire's eyes. No doubt the other two were vampires as well.

From there everything seemed to happen in slow motion. One of them made a move for Erik, while the others rushed to restrain me. Erik woke up in the arms of the stranger and let out a cry of distress. I tried to go to him, but I was no match for two determined vampires. Suddenly, a fourth figure jumped into the room through the broken window and attacked the man holding Erik. At first I feared for the man's life, but then I saw the red gleam in his eyes. What was going on here?!? For some reason, the two vampires who had been holding me in place released me to aid their comrade. I immediately rushed to Erik and scooped him up into my arms. My whole body shook with fear as I watched the four vampires fight amongst themselves. There wasn't really a whole lot to watch at first because of their speed, but then my eyes slowly began to adjust. It seemed almost like a dance, a frightening dance full of tension and flashing teeth. The newest arrival seemed to be a very good fighter, but I wondered how long he would last against three others of his kind. I shivered and held Erik closer to my body, wishing that they would all just fall out the window and die (not that that would kill them anyway).

A figure appeared silently in the windowsill and dropped to the floor to watch the commotion. He was a very sleek gentleman and stood with his hands cupped behind his back. His hair was a light brown and his eyes were a bright blue, thoughts swimming behind them and giving him an air of mystery. The stranger seemed overly calm, almost as if he were bored with the struggle in front of him.

"Enough." he said sternly.

The group of three vampires froze and walked quickly to stand behind him, their opponent in tow. So, this man was somehow in command of the troupe. But how could he exercise such perfect control over them without being a vampire himself? Was he simply a well-fed vampire, or was there more to him than I could see? He looked at the struggling vampire.

"Such a pity." he said with a sigh, "I had hoped that one day you might come to your senses, James."

"Damien." the name was spoken like a curse.

I held Erik close to me as the blue-eyed man I now knew as Damien stepped ever closer. He soon stood over us and I shivered uncomfortably. This man definitely was not human.

With a mocking laugh he turned toward his companions.

"There is no threat here." he said with a sneer, "The fools have placed their hopes upon a frightened woman and a helpless infant!"

"Get away from her!" James shouted.

Damien turned toward him with a slow smile.

"Very well, brother." he said lightly, "I shall leave them alone…"

As if on cue, Damien's minions let go of James and stepped back a few paces.

"In exchange, we shall play a little game."

James shifted, ready for a trap. Damien snapped his fingers and the other three vampires leapt at a slightly surprised James, who jumped out the window in retreat.

"Have a pleasant evening." Damien said with a smile, and disappeared into the night.

James's POV-

I hadn't expected him to sic his minions upon me so suddenly. Usually there was at least a little bit of foreplay first. Looking back at the gaining vampires, a feeling of despair came over me. They were driven by the strange magic that bound them to their master, while I relied only upon my will to survive. If I died, who would help protect Alexandra? It was doubtful that she remembered me, but perhaps I could spark a few hidden memories as I ran? I reached out to her with the link I had never used. The feeling of momentary emptiness that came over me as I searched for her was slightly disturbing, but it vanished as soon as I established a rough connection with her. As soon as she allowed me to access her mind, I began pouring in my memories of the first and only day that we had been connected. Just before I relayed the scene where I had left her in an alleyway and watched her from the shadows, I felt the force of a hurricane blast into me from behind. Damien's men knocked me to the ground, and I hit my head hard upon a rock. As my surroundings blurred, everything became a flash of teeth and fists. Pain shot through my body like lightning and I cried out in agony. Suddenly the three vampires vanished. I tried to get up, but the pain was immense. My blood flowed from my body and I groaned. It had been a while since I had fed, and I quickly became tired from even the small loss of blood.

"I'm sorry, Alexandra." I whispered.

Then my world went black.


	5. Chapter 4

*When dialogue is in italics, it means that telepathy is being used*

Alexandra's POV-

I stood looking out the broken window for what seemed like a century. Erik was still upset from the incident, and I tried to calm him down with gentle thoughts. Just as he was settling down again, something pricked at the corners of my mind. The moment I investigated, foreign memories flooded in. The sequence of events seemed like it should have taken much longer to process, but as soon as they entered my brain they became my memories too. A flash of pain interrupted the flow of information, and I jumped in shock. I didn't exactly feel the pain in my own body, but more realized the amount of pain coming from the other end. Almost as suddenly as the connection had taken place, it was gone, and I was left with a feeling of dread. Glancing over at the sleeping Erik, I prayed that Damien's attitude of nonchalance wasn't just a trick to get me to relax and I jumped out the window.

JUMPED OUT THE WINDOW?!?!? What the heck was I thinking?!? At that height the drop would surely crush me, or at least break my legs. But to my amazement time seemed to slow and allow time for me to grab the edge of the roof and then drop softly to the ground with barely a sound. It seemed as though I had most of the senses and abilities of a vampire at my disposal when I needed them. Yes, that seemed about right. I could run, hear, and move as they could, but only in emergencies. Ugh. Where was James? I had been running at incredible speed for several moments now, but still the connection that we had momentarily held refused to come back into focus. Suddenly I tripped and went flying through the air. Adjusting my body slightly, I landed in an offensive crouched position, ready to attack. I heard a low moan and directed my attention to the ground in front of me, upon which lay a grievously injured James.

Blood seeped slowly from gashes in his chest, and he placed his hand clumsily over the deepest ones as he attempted to rise. He managed to get to a questionably stable position on his hands and knees before being taken over by a coughing fit. The blood that ejected violently from his lungs spattered the summer grass like dew and glistened mockingly in the moonlight. I helped him into a sitting position where he leaned against me weakly. I was simultaneously shocked and relieved to instinctively know that, regardless of my first panicked assumption, the injuries that James had sustained were truly not that bad for a vampire. Even the deepest wounds on his chest would not normally have been mortal _if_ he had fed recently. Since he had neglected to do so to be present for Erik's birth (how **did** I know all of this?!?), the rapid loss of blood was pushing his health into a rapid decline. I quickly ripped open the faded scar on my wrist and let the blood flow into his mouth. At first James seemed confused, and gagged on the blood in his panic to get away from the unknown source. He struggled against me as I tried to hold him down, and I attempted to calm him through the hazy remainder of our connection. He hesitantly loosened the grip he had taken on my bleeding arm and struggled to bring his eyes into focus.

"Alexandra?" he mumbled in disbelief.

I returned the blood flow to his lips, but he instinctively tried to spit it out again.

"Swallow, dearest." I said gently.

His grip on my arm became one of desperation as he began to suck the blood from my body. Faster and faster it fled from me through that small cut in my wrist. Something in the back of my mind screamed in protest, in self-preservation, but the protector in me shushed it. It was literally impossible for a protector to bleed to death. James took a new hold on my arm and began draining with new strength. Suddenly a different set of warning bells was going off in my head, telling me to pull away. But James needed the blood! Didn't he? I looked down worriedly at my vampire and gently tried to pull my arm away from his hungry lips. Yes, he needed blood, but drinking too much of a protector's blood at once would make him sick. This was part of what protected us. A vampire could drink with our permission, and our blood would help quicken the healing process in their bodies (It was also helpful if our blood was applied directly to the wounds). If they tried to drink without our permission, the blood would boil in their system and they would become helpless as the attack quickly caused excruciating pain unless given blood willingly by that protector. It's true that our blood smells repulsive to vampires we're not connected with, but that still doesn't completely fend them off. As is quite obvious, our blood is special. Vampires know this and will do anything to get a taste, regardless of what their bodies are screaming. Human blood was nice for when you needed a fix, but wouldn't heal the body and please the senses like a protector's did. James's problem came in when comparing need to want. He was drinking my blood faster than it could be processed, and his body said that he didn't need that much.

It wouldn't have been a problem if he had gone slowly, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. My body read the signals from his that said he didn't need it, and started lacing poison into the blood. It wouldn't kill a vampire, but it caused enough pain to discourage biting protectors and draining them for hours just to watch them squirm in discomfort. More experienced protectors would have been able to control this impulse and give their vampire the full dose of blood that was needed, but I was very new to the job. My body didn't understand what was happening, and so it fought against being unnecessarily drained, regardless of my wishes. So, you're probably wondering why, if James knew all of this (which he certainly did, by the way), did he insist on gorging himself on my blood. The answer is quite simple. First there was the desperation to live. One can take things a bit too far when they know that they're dying. Then, of course, there was the sheer pleasure that his body was receiving from feeding upon me. When a vampire bites their designated protector, they receive a sort of special treatment from the blood. A 'hello there my friend!' sort of welcome that makes the blood more satisfying and delicious than even other protectors' blood. Simply put, James was experiencing 'love at first bite' and was having a little trouble caring about much else at the moment. Of course, not all vampires have a designated protector. Most didn't and never would, as they were fairly rare even before Damien wiped them all out…WHAT?!?

I didn't have time to fully process all of this information, especially the last bit about Damien. All I needed to know was that James would hurt himself if I didn't intervene. I wrenched my arm from his grip and firmly pushed him away with my other hand. He fought me with what little strength he had before giving up with a quiet whimper. Pulling back remains of his shredded shirt, I let my blood flow onto his wounds. James groaned as the power of my blood began to seal them shut with a nauseating bubbly hiss. The more that his wounds healed, the more James fussed. I brushed the hair out of his face and squeezed his hand reassuringly. He looked very much like Damien, but more worn. He had a faded scar on his cheek that traveled downward slightly above his jaw line. Dark shadows beneath his eyes from lack of sleep, his desperate need for blood, and the prickly stubble on his chin suggested that he had been on the run for a while. I would have to ask him about that later on. In fact, there were a lot of things that I would need to ask him. I figured that I at least had the right to know why Damien was after me, and was certain that James would know the answer. He had sent me his memories concerning the day that he changed me, but nothing more. For some reason I had this feeling, this _nagging_ feeling, that he was trying very hard not to think about something. New instincts told me that James was hiding a memory from me, burying it deep within his mind where even I could not see.

I came out of my thoughts and looked down at James. He looked at me momentarily through hazy eyes and then with a heavy shuddering breath, his whole body became limp. My mind flew into a panic. I couldn't lose him!

"_James!_"

I called for him without words, reaching desperately across our connection, which was weakening more and more every second. Though I could feel James's fading pulse at my fingertips, only darkness resided where his thoughts and feelings should have been. Tears streaming down my face, I took him back to the house and gently put him on my cot. He was barely alive. My presence woke Erik, and he reached out to me with his mind curiously, sensing my distress. I gave a yelp as he searched my thoughts and quickly cut the connection, evoking an ear-splitting whine of protest from him. I couldn't let him see the images going through my mind. Vampire or not, he was only a baby. Curling up in a corner, I put my hands over my ears and started to cry, rocking back and forth. I knew that I should at least be attending to Erik, but I was having a meltdown. The past few days had been more than my poor human body could take. The resilience and stamina and so forth that were trademarks of vampires and protectors would not come to me easily. It took a good protector at least a few years to acquire these traits. The thought of waiting that long brought on a new wave of tears, this time for myself as well. Not only would Erik and James suffer because of my stupidity and ignorance, but I would as well. Would I even survive long enough to become a good protector? Normally, new protectors were taught by others who had decades, even centuries of experience. The training of a future full-time, unassisted protector was a sacred process that was mandatory for both the protector and their vampire. Each had their responsibilities to the other, and the fulfillment of these duties was crucial to the balance of power in the world for every living being and to the existence of our secret world.

I let out a wail of despair. Why was this happening? Finally things had seemed to be turning around in my life, and now this. What was the punishment for letting your vampire be killed? Was there one? I prayed that there was. Sobbing from the agony that pierced my bleeding soul, I thought up as many gruesome punishments as I could. There was no punishment too harsh…or harsh enough…to bring justice to the wrong that I had committed. Whatever torture the vampires had thought up for Damien to pay for the lives he had taken should be mine as well. Maybe they would string me upside-down and cut me open, just let me bleed for a while until the humans saw what was happening and took over the torture from there. Perhaps they would chain me up for all of eternity, letting vampires drink my blood like wine. Or maybe they would string me up and let me bleed while all the remaining vampires spat on me and threw mud and glass in my face. Yes. I envisioned them all throwing rocks, slowly breaking every bone in my body as I hung there defenseless. Then, after a few days, when they became bored with me, they could take a torch to my bleeding wounds and smile while I squirmed in silent agony that was still less than what I knew I deserved. After that, they should throw my burning body in the river with my hands and feet tied so that I would sink to the bottom and almost drown before they brought me back up again. They would repeat that process of near death until they were satisfied, and then rip my head off of my shoulders. Or maybe they should-

"_NOOOOOO!!!_"

I jumped as the scream echoed of the walls of my mind. Arms wrapped around me and I was swept off of my feet and held protectively. I peered up to see whose warm breath was being rapidly exhaled next to my ear. The arms tightened around me and pressed my head into the person's shoulder.

"Let go of me!" I demanded.

"Stay still, I think he's here somewhere." A worried but gentle voice spoke.

I placed a hand on his chest to push myself away and felt bare skin through tattered cloth. "_James?_" I projected hopefully into his mind.

I hadn't heard his voice enough times to be able to recognize it yet.

"It's alright," he replied, "I'll protect you."

I breathed a sigh of relief and wrapped his mind in a blanket of warm comfortable feelings.

"Alexandra," he whispered softly, "I-I can't concentrate with you doing that."

"What do you need to concentrate for?" I asked in a distracted voice.

"Damien." he replied with a scowl, "He's here. I saw his plans as if they were already happening. They were hurting you…"

I looked up and was surprised to see tears forming in his eyes. Embarrassed and unsure how to say it with words, I projected the truth of what he was seeing into his mind.

James's grip on me loosened and I hopped to my own feet. He stood staring at me in surprise for a moment, and then turned on me in anger and hurt.

"So you want to die, is that it? Is your position truly that undesirable? Am I not good enough for you?!?"

I tried to reach out to him with my mind, but was blocked by a wall of red. Something wasn't right.

He started toward me with a menacing look in his eyes…and I was afraid.

"_I like how you think, my dear._"

The voice did not belong to James, but I still only heard it within the confines of my mind. Could someone other than James and Erik reach that part of me? The thought was not a pleasant one, but I was too curious as to the person's identity to attempt shutting them out.

"_It's too bad we can't accommodate your wonderful imagination, but I'm afraid I just haven't the time to oversee that degree of torture._"

The words being spoken were poisonous, but the voice was like sweet honey. A warning went off in my head, saying that I should immediately block the stranger out, but the voice was so soothing…so understanding…

"_Just stand still and relax._" the voice crooned, "_This will only hurt for a moment, I promise._"

I knew this voice…

James wrapped his hands around my throat and clamped my windpipe shut.

"_After all,_"

Whose voice was it? I knew it was imperative that I remember, but it was hard to think when things flashed red with floating black dots …

"_I'm not a monster._"

I felt my knees buckle as I fell to the ground in slow motion. Oops. Was I supposed to die? Shouldn't I care?

Maniacal laughter rang in my dying mind, and I knew who it was. Damien.

Taking a deep and painful breath of air, I repelled him with all of my strength. A scream of frustration and fury blasted before I shoved his mind out of mine. James and I circled one another, neither one of us willing to expose our back to the other. All the while, I tried in vain to break through the wall that Damien had sealed himself in with when he entered James's mind. It was no use. Damien was a strong protector with about a century of experience, while I had only discovered my powers a little over twenty-four hours ago. Then, in one second of flashing golden light, things changed. I felt the gap between our amounts of power shorten until I surpassed him. All the information from years of training that I should have received as a protector suddenly took root in my mind. I felt strong, sleek, powerful, and awake. There was no doubt in my mind that I was no longer human. Using my new telepathic strength, I pushed hard against the wall surrounding James's mind. Damien was immediately shoved out, though not without screams of rage and a string of curses a mile long. I was not impressed. What _did_ grab my attention was the fact that, without Damien providing extra strength, James had paled and dropped to the floor. I knelt on one knee and quickly took his face in my hands. Sending feelings of deadly hostility toward Damien's retreating mind, I calmed down as I saw color slowly return to James's features. Then, without warning, Damien entered my mind once more.

"_See if you feel so kind toward him once you see __**this**__!_" he hissed.

My mind was forcefully connected to James's, and Damien pushed past a barrier that hid a memory from my sight.

"_Now see exactly why he never confronted you before, and why it was so easy for me to have him attack you._"

I was suddenly standing in a room that I had never seen. James's memories identified it as the hideout of the elders. A younger and slightly less worn James knelt before them, and then went to embrace a woman who I had to blink twice to believe I saw.

"Maman?" I said softly, reaching out my hand toward her.

She disappeared behind a curtain, only to return moments later. James and a few others hurried out a secret door, but not before he kissed her. I viewed this with mixed feelings, as well as the fact that my mother was also a protector, but was immediately startled when a group of vampires rushed in and began slaughtering everyone. My mother screamed as she was pulled away from the dead body of her vampire and into a separate room. Damien forced me inward, though I somehow knew I didn't want to go. I stood there in horror as I watched them defile her. Why was Damien doing this? What point was he trying to prove? Then it hit me. He left her. James had heard her scream, but had kept walking.

The picture of my mother's dead body blurred and I returned to the present to find myself on both knees, sobbing. I looked up at James with longing in my eyes.

"Tell me it's not true, James." I pleaded softly, "Tell me it's all a lie. Please…"

Tears were streaming down his face, writing the truth all over his face. James opened his mouth, and my hopes rose a little. He would deny it! He was crying because he loved her, missed her, and hated the thought of himself ever doing such a thing. Right? No. James turned and fled out the broken window.

"_He could have saved her,_" Damien said, "_Yet he chose instead to save himself. I was able to take over his mind so easily because he hated you. He hated you, if only for a moment, because you reminded him of her. He doesn't want to remember what you must always keep in mind._"

He paused to make sure that I was still listening. Despite my loud sobbing, I listened to every word. Why? Because he was strong, that's why. I needed some semblance of stability to cling to, and he was there in my mind, setting down solid facts for me to stand on. They were terrible facts, yes, but facts nonetheless.

"_What you must never forget,_" he continued, "_is that he and I are brothers. Twins, actually. He and I are alike in more ways than he is willing to admit. He doesn't want to admit that he let them kill your mother. He wanted them to kill her, so that he could get to you. It's you he always wanted, not her. James knew that you would be stronger and more beautiful than her. He was more than willing to give up the person who loved him for more of what he got from her. James did not love your mother. He loved the fact that she was powerful. You were to be more powerful than she, so he switched to you. He has no connective feelings for you. He and I are numb creatures, incapable of love or affection. You were to be his plaything. I assume you do not want that. If you value your honor, then you will stay out of the way of both my brother and myself._"

With that he cut the connection, and left me alone with his cold, dark truth.


End file.
